Thursday, December 11, 2008

UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights

It's Human Rights Week! The UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights is the highest human rights prize awarded by the UN and is handed out every five years. This year, the prize was awarded to 7 people, with 4 of the recipients named being women.

Louise ArbourMs. Arbour is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice for the Canadian Supreme Court, and former Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.

Dr. Carolyn GomesMs. Gomes is a medical doctor and co-founder and executive director of the activist organization Jamaicans for Justice.

Sister Dorothy Stang

Dorothy Stang was a nun who spent her life working for equality in Brazil and the Amazon region. Besides working with the poor people living in those regions, she also supported environmental stewardship. She was killed in 2005 by people who opposed her views

Benazir Bhutto Ms. Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who died earlier this year. She was the first, and currently only, woman to hold the position of prime minister in Pakistan.